Poem for Monday and Torpedo Factory

Inland
By Edna St. Vincent Millay

People that build their houses inland,
   People that buy a plot of ground
Shaped like a house, and build a house there,
   Far from the sea-board, far from the sound

Of water sucking the hollow ledges,
   Tons of water striking the shore,--
What do they long for, as I long for
   One salt smell of the sea once more?

People the waves have not awakened,
   Spanking the boats at the harbour's head,
What do they long for, as I long for,--
   Starting up in my inland bed,

Beating the narrow walls, and finding
   Neither a window nor a door,
Screaming to God for death by drowning,--
   One salt taste of the sea once more?

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Sunday was a day of gorgeous weather and moderate frustration. We set out later than we intended for Mount Vernon's Colonial Fair, only to drive around for a long time looking unsuccessfully for parking, then going to Alexandria and wandering around a bit before coming home so Daniel could eat a late lunch and Adam could walk the neighbor's dogs prior to his team spaghetti dinner. We had pizza with my parents and Daniel, then took the latter to College Park but forgot his bananas plus the suit he needs for internship interviews. And my plans for Monday are off because a friend had a family emergency.


One of the remaining torpedoes at the Torpedo Factory art gallery in Alexandria, which retains the name of its previous function.


Here are the men in my family with another of the torpedoes.


And here is one of my favorite art studios in the building.


We stopped to see some painting, sculpture, fiber arts, and home decorations...


...including this studio working on a Last Supper made of chewed gum.


This is the view of the Potomac River out the back.

At least it was a pretty good sports day locally except for the Redskins who played embarrassingly once again -- since the entire NFC East is looking terrible this season, at least they were in good company in their division. The Ravens won their home opener (this week the defense showed up), the Nationals beat Philly by nine, the Orioles beat the Blue Jays by two. We took a break from football -- I insisted, hee -- to watch The White Queen, where I am glad to see more Anne Neville, less Warwick (heh), and now the Seahawks-49ers game is dragging on because of a weather delay.